Holo-Athua
Holo-Athua, the Eastern Isles, is the ancient trade hub for the World Powers. The islands are a paradise of many exotic pleasures, the secrets of which are known nowhere else on Titan. By adhering to a strict neutrality with regards to international disputes, Holo fulfills the vital roll of global trade supervisor. It is exclusively through eastern routes that Arbus Arkad can trade for goods from Obek and vice versa, and it is also through these routes that Gnosos can trade for fresh produce, medical supplies, and construction materials. Government Holo-Athua is governed and organized by a number of Magistrates. These men are required to be of Holo-Athuan birth but are usually educated overseas, spending much of their careers as students of higher education in either Gnosos or Arbus Arkad, if not both. Once appointed, a Magistrate will serve until retirement in their old age. At this time, each Magistrate typically selects a number of possible successors from a pool of the most prestigeous and promising youth of the day. Through rigorous trial and debate, the remaining Magistrates will elect one among these potentials to take the place of the retired. The duties of a Magistrate include evaluating currency exchange rates, keeping record of the availability of internationally controlled substances, and ordering the enforcement of international trade restrictions. Magistrates are also bankers of sorts, sometimes offering loans to trading companies or private interests in the form of Holo-Athuan trade gems. These prized rocks are redeemable as currency for their given values almost anywhere in the world, and are particularly favored in the criminal underworld for the property that they are very difficult to trace. Military World trade is a matter as sensitive as it is universally important. Without the eastern routes, no World Power would be able to support itself adequately. To protect those routes, Holo-Athua employs the services of the enigmatic para-military force known as the Wardens. Trained on the ancient island of Alualpos under the tutelage of tribal mystics, children are shaped from birth to fill one single roll: protect the islands. The methods used by the mystics to train these supersoldiers is unknown even to the governing Magistrates; a technique predating the advent of international trade. Even the Wardens, who directly experience the training regimens of the mystics, cannot satisfactorily describe or replicate the process of teaching that made them what they are. One year ago, however, an ancient dragon named Cyranus layed waste to Alualpos, seemingly unprovoked. Thus, the knowledge needed to train new Wardens was wiped from existence. Religious Background The Holo-Athuans revere dragons as gods, believing that each island in the archipelago is protected by an ancient dragon deity. The eastern islands are the progenitor of many legends among sailors and explorers, but one over all others cuts through the fog of history most clearly and survives to be retold generation after generation; the legend of the Isle of Mists. It is told that a hero who has lost his way will sail through a thick mist, to arrive on the shores of a land that exists on no map. There, he will find the means to accomplish his goals, and be set back on his glorious path. Category:Places